Spiritual Sunday: Little Surprises

How was everyone’s weekend? Hubby and I had a fabulous four-day Date Night run, Tuesday to yesterday (pictures and recaps to come tomorrow). It’s been a really long time since we’ve had the opportunity to spend nights doing things that are outside of our normal day-to-day lives, so it was quite the welcome break.

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Sunday post, but a few things that have happened over the last few weeks have really driven me to type up a short little ditty here. (Or, at least, short for me.)

First, let’s get the formalities out the way, shall we? Please read this disclosure before continuing. 🙂 Thank you!

Here’s the weird thing. All of these interesting instances involve my other half. This wouldn’t be such a big deal on the surface, but as I’ve mentioned before, we hold pretty different spiritual beliefs. Of course we respect each other in what we believe and don’t believe (this marriage wouldn’t work otherwise). But when either of our beliefs are challenged, shaped, or changed, it’s pretty significant.

As a (really condensed) summary, I identify myself as a rebel Catholic with respects for other beliefs/non-beliefs. He is hesitant to label himself any one particular religion/denomination but for all intents and purposes considers himself to be somewhat spiritual.

So imagine my surprise when he feels pulled to a certain church! There is a gorgeous Lutheran church near where we live, with fragrant trees out front that give off the most heady, delightfully-sweet perfume. I’m not very good with my plant and tree identification, so I’m not sure if honeysuckle grows on a tree or a bush or if it’s a flower, but that’s the scent I most identified it with. The neighborhood seemed very friendly, and a couple of parks were in walking distance. We even saw advertised on their sign that one of their services was going to be on the lawn of one of those parks. The church seemed to be very accomodating and inclusive and all-around pleasant. We drove by it recently and he said, out of the blue, “I’d want to attend a service there one day.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Huh. Like when?”
“I don’t know. Sometime before Christmas.”

The second thing that took me by surprise was yesterday while we were walking around a lake. We were having a good, lazy conversation about everything and nothing. Then he felt compelled to tell me about something he did recently. First, I should explain that my husband has a weird relationship with prayer. He doesn’t pray often, for the wonderful reason that he thinks praying for something is selfish. It makes perfect sense to me when he says it seems awfully self-centered to ask God for, say, a new car instead of peace in Syria. So he tries to keep his prayers to a minimum. I should also remind you guys that I’ve been looking for work for over six months now. Okay, back to the action:

“You know how I told you that I don’t like to pray?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, awhile ago I prayed that you’d find a job. And I really thought that it was going to work this time because you’ve been getting so many interviews. Now I feel bad for expecting you to get a job. I think maybe I asked for too much this time.”

To say I was touched by what he said would be an extreme understatement. I was moved almost beyond words that he prayed for me. I likened it to someone that had a genie who would only grant them three wishes and chose to use one of their wishes on someone else.

The gratefulness I felt inside had absolutely nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the fact that I felt so absolutely adored in that moment. It’s like he pulled out the big guns for me. It’s like if you’re dying from a rare disease and someone decides to send you halfway across the world to find the absolute-best cure known for that disease, even if it meant putting up your entire life savings, house, and car as collateral.

So in the end, my other half has definitely been surprising me. I just never thought he’d be surprising me with religion.